Gambia’s Ministry of Fisheries Water Resources National Assembly Matters (MoFWR-NAMs) in collaboration with stakeholders held its first project steering committee meeting on 19 September 2022 at the Department of Fisheries in Banjul. The meeting was aimed at strengthening gender adaptive capacities of climate change through capacity building for small scale businesses in the Gambia in supporting and promoting quality and safety standard of environmental safeguards.
In his opening remarks at the occasion, Omar S.M. Gibba, the permanent sectary at the Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters (MoFWR-NAMs), pointed out that the aim and objective of the project was to address the critical issues of climate change which are in line with the fisheries policy and development strategies, and to support the policies and development strategies of other sectors such as environment, gender, trade among stakeholders.
P.S. Gibba, who doubles as the chairperson of the steering committee, said at the end of the project, national capacities would be strengthened to mainstream climate change adaptation and gender equality in sectoral policies and development strategies. Increase resilience and adaptive capacities of enterprise and communities along the coastal fisheries value chain among other things.
“I wish to draw your attention to the gender dimension of the project because this is something I like to hail about the project,” P S Gibba said.
According to Gibba, the fisheries sector is in demographic structure with significant gender roles with supply value chains. He said women dominate the fisheries sector in occupying the post-harvest fisheries segment, involving various small scale enterprises from fish landing, processing ,marketing and providing consumers with fish of quality.